Penelope Cruz, Oscar nominee?

Penelope Cruz may be on her way to an Oscar nomination for her role in the new movie Volver, according to somecritics; the movie, which opens November 3rd, is getting great reviews so far. As the film’s lead, Cruz plays an overworked wife and mother who has to hide the body of her dead husband and deal with her mother’s ghost. It’s the kind of strong, demanding role Cruz wants to play more of, but rarely gets to – at least in the U.S. “It’s normal to get the most demanding, difficult and emotionally demanding characters in Europe instead of America”, she said during an interview at the Toronto Film Festival, because “there are not many of those movies for actresses [in America]”.

You mean playing Matt McConaughey’s girlfriend in Sahara wasn’t challenging enough? Who knew!